News

Actions

Stan Chesley loses appeal, must pay back part of $42M

Posted at 11:01 AM, Jun 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-17 11:01:01-04

CINCINNATI -- Stan Chesley must now pay a portion of $42 million owed in a lawsuit over the popular weight-loss drug Fen-Phen after losing an appeal with the Kentucky Supreme Court Thursday. 

Chesley, the once-prominent rainmaker known as the "Master of Disaster" for his success in winning billions of dollars for thousands of clients over the course of five decades, was ordered to pay the money after a lower Kentucky court found he breached his fiduciary duty to clients who he’d represented in the 2001 Fen-Phen settlement.

The lower courts found Chesley and co-counselorsawarded themselves most of a $200 million settlement over the popular weight-loss drug

Chesley later appealed the ruling. On Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court declined that appeal, Law360 reports

“Due to this determination, Chesley's claims that the circuit court exceeded the scope of its jurisdiction in ordering him to transfer his interest in the Ohio trust to the Respondents are not properly before this court,” Kentucky’s high court wrote.

Chesley was disbarred in March 2013 amid findings of professional unethical conduct.

Less than a month later, in April 2013, Chesley executed an agreement to leave his law firm and retired from practicing law in Ohio.